The present invention relates to support devices for urine collection bags used in conjunction with catheters and in particular to such devices designed to be supported on the leg of the user.
A number of support systems for urine catheter bags employ a plurality of (usually three) circumferential straps. Typically, however, the prior art devices disclose systems in which an upper circumferential strap encircles the waist of the user while two lower circumferential straps encircle the upper leg. Typical of these systems are U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,130, U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,785.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,130 issued to Buchstein on Oct. 11, 1938 for "Supra Pubic Drain Appliance" discloses a device worn from a belt about the waist of the user. A urine drainage bag is attached to the user by a pair of straps about the thigh. A similar device with a belt about the waist of the user and a pair of straps about the thigh to support a urine bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,295 issued to Laufbahn on Feb. 14, 1978 for "Catheter." A variation of this arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,785 issued to Barto, Jr. on Aug. 5, 1975 for "Harness for a Disposable Urinal." Barto, Jr. discloses a harness for supporting a urine collection bag by means of a sheet member draped along the user's leg. The sheet member is suspended from a belt about the user's waist and held about the user's leg with a pair of straps. None of these devices are designed to be worn solely on the leg of the user, therefore none of them show any recognition of the problems associated with supporting a urine bag from a user's leg. In particular, none of these patents disclose a longitudinal control strap.
Some patents of this type do, however, show support straps and a few of them show a pair of longitudinal support straps. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 1,416,238 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,358. These patents, too, disclose devices designed to be supported from the waist of the user and the longitudinal straps are not used to provide control to prevent the bag from rotating on the leg of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,970 mentions, without detailing the structure, French Patent No. 1,445,658 which is said to disclose "a pouch for a urine bag with mounting straps for mounting the pouch on a person's leg." col. 1, lines 20-23.
Those who are restricted in their ability to ambulate find the wearing of urine collection bags to be a necessary but troublesome procedure. While numerous devices have been proposed for supporting urine bags on ambulatory individuals as described above, a seated individual is not amenable to the same type of support system utilizing waist belts. Devices supporting urine bags from the user's legs generally provide no proper support, especially for full bag. Furthermore, bags are likely to slip or slide from the user's leg. An additional problem occurs for those who have limited use of their hands. A bag that has fallen out of position is not only uncomfortable, and difficult to retrieve, but may actually represent a danger to the user--from the strain put on the catheter, for example. Furthermore, tightening the straps is no solution since the straps will interfere with blood circulation.